Monday evening I became the proud "mama" of 5 beautiful chickens. My awesome neighbor helped me collect them as I was totally unprepared for that adventure, and he was quite good at snagging them up. I brought home a rooster and his harem of 4 hens. Our home has a small backyard leading up to the marsh, and smack in the middle is an old rabbit hutch. Tanner worked diligently over the weekend to repair holes, put up a layer of hard cloth over the chicken wire, and he swept out the inside and filled it with fresh cedar shavings. Oh, and he created a nesting box out of an old nightstand I had. I brought the chickens home and again my neighbor helped out by assisting in the unloading, which was relatively easy. I thought they'd run crazy to the road, but they were already asleep and we just had to scoop them up and put them in their coop.Chickens are really beautiful and I don’t think I ever realized it before. Tanner and I are going to have fun learning about our new friends. They've already laid over a half dozen eggs! Sometimes I forget that eggs are not perfectly white ovals tucked neatly in cartons of six or twelve. They’re rose colored, green, and brown and perfect with their imperfections.
I’m really excited about learning how to live more peacefully with the land and less dependently on corporate retailers. Homegrown vegetables taste a hundred times better than the genetically modified, hormone infused, shipped from far-away-lands produce we have adopted into our lifestyles. Obviously, homegrown fruits and veggies offer a wealth of nutritional perks along with their great flavors. And chickens? Well. Don’t get me started on corporate farms. I think a home grown meal is far more satisfying knowing it is the result of the work of my own hands.
Left to Right: Lola, Lucy, Bella, and Ginger
